Menu

Chocolate Sunday – Sorbet!

Earlier this week, I thought I might start this post by writing that I made a chocolate sorbet this week, and that it had no right to taste as good as it did.

I planned to use the Cuisinart recipe for Dark Chocolate Sorbet, which I’d made several times before. You wouldn’t guess from the rich, chocolatey taste that it’s both fat-free and dairy-free.

It’s easy, too. Just simmer water, brown sugar and cocoa powder for three minutes, strain (although my friend skipped that step and still had good results), add vanilla, chill, and let your ice cream maker do the rest.

So I was confident about the end result when I started to make it. But I used a small pot on a dual burner that I usually use for large pots. I didn’t make the mistake of using the large-pot part of the dial, but because high and low settings are reversed on the small-pot part of the dial, I lowered the heat from medium instead of raising it to bring the chocolate mixture to a simmer. It was heating for longer than it should have and I don’t think it was supposed to thicken the way it did on the bottom, plus I didn’t get the temperature high enough to do a proper simmer. However, the mixture looked and tasted fine, so I proceeded with the recipe.

I chilled the heated mixture and put it in the ice cream maker as directed. It was only when I checked it after the recommended 25 to 30 minutes that I realized the mixture wasn’t thickening the way it was supposed to. I had kept the container in the freezer before using it, so that wasn’t the problem either. I gave it another five minutes, and another, and maybe even longer.

Disappointed that my “foolproof” recipe hadn’t gelled, I put it in the freezer anyway. Even if it wasn’t good enough to serve to company, maybe I could use it for a fruit dip. Or comfort food, in a an emergency.

Chocolate sorbet and fresh-picked backyard blackberries

The next afternoon, when I was preparing dinner, I decided to see what had happened to my chocolate soup. Lo and behold, it had turned into chocolate sorbet.

I served it for dessert. It really had no right to taste as good as it did.